Beer-sterilizing apparatus.



PATENTED OCT. 3. 1905.

0. E. MIOHAUD. BEER STERILIZING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APB.20.1905.

ONESIME E. MIOHAUD, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

BEEli-STERILIZING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

Application filed April 20, 1905- Serial No. 256,640.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Onnsnun E. MIoHAUn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Beer-Sterilizing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for treating beer to render it stable at ordinary temperatures, and has for its principal objects to provide apparatus for heating and then cooling a flowing stream of beer, to provide apparatus for sterilizing beer that can be rapidlyand conveniently cleaned, to provide sterilizing and cooling apparatus which is so arranged that the heating fluid can be caused to circulate through both its heating and cooling sections, and other objects hereinafter more fully appearing.

My invention consists in the parts and in the arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur, Figure l is an elevational view of the apparatus; and Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the end of one of the heating-pipes, one of the beer-pipes, and its cleaning-cock.

Beer as it is ordinarily put into barrels or kegs contains fermentation-germs, which will cause fermentation and ruin the beer if its temperature is not kept very low. For this reason the handling of beer in kegs is quite expensive. It must be shipped in refrigerator-cars and must be kept in refrigerators until used, all this involving a considerable expense for ice. Beer treated in my apparatus may be allowed to remain at ordinary atmospheric temperatures for months without deteriorating. It can be shipped in ordinary cars and kept without the use of ice.

The apparatus comprises two similar'sections, in one of which the beer is heated and in the other of which it is cooled.

The heating-section comprises frames 1 1, in which tubes 2 are mounted. Adjacent tubes are connected near their ends by short pipes 3, the connecting-pipes of consecutive pairs of tubes being staggered with respect to each other, so as to provide a zigzag path for the circulation of the heating medium. A pipe 4 extends through each of said tubes 2. Said pipes 4 are connected together near their ends by short pipes 5, so as to provide a zigzag path for the circulation of the beer. The opposite ends of said pipes 4 (or couplings in line therewith) are provided with cocks 6. The cocks 6 are provided with valves 7, having holes therethrough equal in diameter to the internal diameter of the pipes. To clean the pipes 4, the cocks 6 are opened, permittincig the swabbing of the pipes from end to en WVhen the apparatus is in operation, the cocks 6 are closed.

The cooling-section is similar to the heat ing-section so far as described. It comprises frames 8, in which tubes 9 are mounted, the latter being connected near their ends zigzagwise by short pipes 10. Pipes 11 extend through said tubes 9, respectively, and are connected near their ends zigzagwise by short pipes 12. Cocks 13 are provided, which may be opened for the purpose of cleaning the pipes 11. The uppermost pipe 11 of this section is a continuation of the uppermost pipe 4 of the heating-section, and thus the pipes of the heating and cooling sections are connected in series. A pipe 14, leading to the source of supply of the heating medium,which is preferably steam, is connected to the top pipe 2 of the heating-section. A valve-15 is provided in said pipe by means of which the steam can be cut oflf. An exhaust-pipe 16 connects with the bottom tube 2 of the heating-section through a coupling 17. This pipe may lead back to the boiler or to a condenser, as desired. A valve 18 is provided by means of which the flow of the heating medium can be regulated. A connecting-pipe 19 leads from the coupling 17 and connects with the top tube 9 of the cooling-section. A valve 20 is arranged in said pipe 19. A pipe 21, provided with a valve 22, leads from the exhaust side of the valve 18 to the bottom tube 9 of the cooling-section. A wastepipe 23 is connected to the coupling 17 and is provided with a valve 24. A pump 25 is con nected to atank 26, containing ice-water. The pump forces the water through a pipe 27, connected to the bottom tube 9 of the coolingsection. A valve 28 is arranged in said pipe 27. A discharge or waste pipe 29 leads from the top-tube 9 of the cooling-section and is provided with a valve 30. A pipe 31, controlled by a valve 32, leads from a keg or receptacle 33, containing the beer to be treated, and is connected to the bottom pipe of the heating-section. The lowest pipe 11 is connected to a pipe 34, controlled by a valve 35. This pipe 34 leads to the keg or receptacle 36 to be filled. A thermometer 3'? is arranged in the pipe leading from the heating-section to the cooling-section for the purposeof indicating the highest temperature to which the beer is raised. A second thermometer 38 is arranged atthe discharge end of the lowest pipe 11 of the cooling-section to indicate the temperature of the beer as it leaves the apparatus and passes to the keg or receptacle to be filled.

hen beginning the operation of the apparatus, the valve 18 is closed, the valve 20 is opened, the valves 30 and 28 are closed, and the valve 22 is opened. The tubes of the two sections are now connected in series. The valve being opened, the steam will then circulate through the heating-section, through the pipe 19, through the cooling section, through the pipe 21, and exhaust through the pipe 16. The valve 32 is opened, and the valve 35 is closed, so that the pipes at and 11 of the heating and cooling sections will both be filled with beer from the receptacle 33. The apparatus stands in this condition until the thermometers 37 and 38 show that all the beer in the apparatus has reached the temperature of sterilization. Then the valves and 22 are closed and the valve 18 is opened. This confines the steam to the heating-section. The valves 28 and are opened and the pump putinto operation to cause a circulation of ice-water through the cooling-section. As soon as the thermometer 38 indicates that the beer in the cooling-section has reached the proper temperature the valve is opened and the beer is allowed to fiow into the keg or receptacle to be filled. From this point the operation of the apparatus is continuous. By means of the valve 35 the flow of the beer is regulated so that it shall leave the apparatus at the proper temperature, as indicated by the thermometer 38.

The cocks 6 are kept closed except when it is desired to clean the apparatus. Access to the pipes 5, connecting the pipes 45, is gained by removing screw-caps 39, which are provided in the coupling connected to the upper end of each pipe 5.

While my apparatus has been described as intended for the treatment of beer, it is obvious that it could be readily used for the treatment of other liquids.

Obviously my apparatus is capable of considerable modification within the scope of my invention, and therefore I do not wish to be limited to the specific construction shown and described.

: What 1 claim as my invention, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

each other to permit circulation of the liquid under treatment, the pipes of one of said sections being connected in series with the pipes of the other of said sections, and means whereby the tubes of one of said sections may be connected in series with the tubes of other of said sections.

2. Sterilizing apparatus comprising sections having a series of tubes having communication to permit circulation therethrough, a series of pipes arranged in said tubes, respectively, and having communication with each other to permit circulation of the liquid under treatment, and valves on the ends of said pipes, whereby said pipes may be closed when in use and may be opened to permit cleaning.

3. Sterilizing apparatus comprising sections having a series of tubes in communication to permit circulation therethrough, a series of straight open-ended pipes arranged in said tubes, respectively, and in communication to permit circulation of the liquid under treatment, and valves on the ends of said pipes, whereby said pipes may be closed during the operation of the apparatus and may be opened for cleaning.

4. Sterilizing apparatus comprising a heating-section and a cooling-section, each of said sections comprising a series of tubes having communication with each other to permit circulation therethrough, and a series of pipes arranged in said tubes, respectively, and having communication with each other to permit circulation of the liquid under treatment, the pipes of said heating-section being connected in series with the pipes of said cooling-section, a steam-pipe connected to a tube at one end of said heating-section and an exhaustpipe connected to a tube at the opposite end of said section, a pipe leading to the source of supply of the liquid to be treated connected to the pipe of said heating-section in the tube connected to said exhaust-pipe, a pipe leading to a source of supply of a cooling medium connected to a tube at one end of said coolingsection, a waste-pipe connected to a tube at the opposite end of said cooling-section, a discharge-pipe connected to the last pipe of said cooling-section, a pipe leading from the last tube of said heating-section to the first tube of said cooling-section, a pipe leading from the last tube of said cooling-section to said exhaust-pipe of said heating-section and valves to control the circulation of the heating and cooling media through said pipes.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 17th day of April, 1905, at the city of St. Louis, Missouri.

ONESIME E. MIOHAUD.

Witnesses:

J. B. Mneown, FRED F. REIsNER. 

